The number of available consumer pharmaceuticals continues to grow for use in the diagnosis, cure, treatment and/or prevention of diseases or injuries. In fact, the use of pharmaceuticals is so prevalent that there are very few households where they are not present. Due to the chemical nature of many of these medicines, any unintended uses or overdoses may have very damaging or lethal consequences. This is especially true with children who do not understand or appreciate the dangers involved. Accordingly, there has been a need to make the packaging childproof. However, because many people who use pharmaceuticals are elderly and may have lost some of their physical strength and/or coordination, it is also important that any such packaging also be readily usable by senior citizens.
In addition, current packaging containers for medicines are typically rectangular boxes or plastic containers that are placed among others on shelves. As shelves can be at different levels that may be difficult for a number of people (e.g., the elderly or people at the ends of the height spectrum) to clearly see and/or access, it can be difficult for consumers to efficiently find what they are looking for. In instances where a consumer can not readily find the product that he or she is looking for, and cannot or does not find a store employee for help, that consumer is likely to select a different product or forego the purchase in its entirety, thereby causing a loss of the sale to the manufacture (and possibly the store), as well as a possible negative perception of the store. Current childproof blister packages also generally have an open end that can affect the aesthetic appearance of a package and permit contaminant to enter therein.
Therefore, there is a need to produce a packaging container that allows senior citizens and other intended users, but not children, to access the contents of the packaging. There is also a need to produce a packaging container that permits it to be more readily displayed at the retail level for consumers.